China Explosion Traps 187

Published: November 28, 2004

A gas explosion tore through a coal mine in central China on Sunday, trapping at least 187 miners, the government said.

The accident occurred in the state-owned Chenjiashan coal mine in Shaanxi province at 7:20 a.m., when more than 200 workers were underground, the official Xinhua News Agency said. By 9 a.m., some 80 miners had been rescued, Xinhua said.

A man who answered the telephone at the government office of Yao County, where the mine is located, confirmed there had been an accident. State television said the explosion had caused ''big casualties.''